Recorded before a live audience at Hotel Indigo's Rialto Room last month, "The Porch" is by many accounts a Southern-spiced version of "The View," with four lively co-hosts, area-centric guests and "seriously casual conversation."

"The Porch" will debut on WNEG at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and will replay at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 11:30 a.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Formerly based in Toccoa, WNEG is owned by UGA and operated by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The opening show - which runs 30 minutes - will showcase Classic City native Marianne Rogers (who'll talk about modeling, "Hee Haw" and being married to Kenny Rogers); Athens caterer Lee Epting (who will share holiday entertaining tips); and Morgan County resident Ruth Barrow Bracewell (who will discuss the nearby town of Madison and its classic homes).

"We've been really lucky to bring some great people together," says Charlie McAlexander, who serves as an assistant to Grady College Dean E. Culpepper Clark and is working on developing new programming for WNEG. "We started kicking around ideas as soon as I got here. I was working with such a talented group that I thought the idea of putting these ladies together. ... It was suggested that in the South, people have conversations on the porch, so we ran with it."

The show's co-hosts are Liz Dalton, who hosts "LizTalk" on 1430-AM and operates her own consulting firm; UGA veterinary medicine professor (and "fashionista") Paige Carmichael; Jennifer Wootton, executive director of the Athens Junior League and a Cajun cook; and singer-songwriter Marty Winkler.

"A primary point is to develop programming for WNEG, offering a true local perspective," said associate producer/publicist Noel Holston, who is the public relations specialist for Grady's celebrated Peabody Awards and even wrote the theme song for "The Porch." "We all want the station to represent what Northeast Georgia is about."

McAlexander, who has a long history in sports broadcasting, with play-by-play stints at South Carolina, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, is so enthused about the show that he's planning to offer it for syndication in the Southeast via RFD-TV.

"The ladies did a great job; I'm really pleased," says McAlexander, who is producing "The Porch." "We think it's going to edit very well. We will do a cut that is for the Northeast Georgia folks and then we'll have a cut that we'll do for syndication. Since the first episode turned out so good, we'll see where it goes from here."

Once "The Porch's" run concludes, those in charge (which, besides McAlexander and Holston include director Nate Kohn and executive producers Horace Newcomb and Jim Alexander) will begin plotting the next chapter, which also will be taped at the Rialto Room. Eventually, "The Porch" will be produced and broadcast weekly for 10-13 weeks.

"We want to maximize exposure by running the pilot four times," Holston says. "And once we are regularly producing shows, we'll follow the trend that most cable and network stations are doing by having a primary air-date timeslot and at least one repeat every week, probably at a different time of the day."

Holston adds that producing a talk show requires much in the way of work and planning, with the hopes of "catching lightning in a bottle." He also said an abundance of rehearsal wasn't necessary, as the co-hosts developed an immediate bond.

"We have these four women, most of whom had never met, and they're of different ages, sensibilities, political parties and religions," he says. "They got together a lot to get to know each other and developed a rapport and energy. It really comes out in the show."

While "The Porch" is WNEG's first production since its purchase, there are a number of other shows in various planning stages.

"Down the line, we're planning an antiques show, which I think would go over really big around here, and we want to do something along the lines of 'Austin City Limits,' (and will be) shooting that pilot at the Rialto Room. We've also got some other ideas."

Holston suggests that since many of WNEG's principals also are connected to the Peabody Awards, there could be a program showcasing past award winners.